Thomas the Tank Engine (1976)
Thomas the Tank Engine was a musical television series planned by Andrew Lloyd Webber from 1973. A pilot episode was produced but cancelled by 1977. Production Although the first attempt at televising the engine stories in 1953 had been an unmitigated disaster, there was no lack of interest in trying again. In 1973, Andrew Lloyd Webber, who read the Railway Series as a child, approached the publisher of the Railway Series, Kaye & Ward, with a proposal for a musical television series. At the time, Lloyd Webber was very much the rising talent, having composed two Biblically-based pop musicals, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Jesus Christ Superstar, as well as film scores for Gumshoe and The Odessa File. Lloyd Webber had a number of meetings with Wilbert Awdry and Stanley Pickard, Kaye & Wardʼs Managing Director. Draft contracts were drawn-up and specimen lyrics written by Peter Reeves were submitted: Come take a ride with the eight famous engines Famous and Faithful and driven by steam Each one is run by the branch line Controller Each part of his scheme The Fat Controllerʼs team... However, there was apprehension from the publishers and the author, as the agreement being offered would give Lloyd Webberʼs company ‘control of almost everything-idea, the characters, every one of the twenty-six books, and even anything else not yet written on publishedʼ. Lloyd Webberʼs lawyers argued that such control was necessary in order to ‘secure the investment money from America which would be needed to pay for the animation and the film-makingʼ. The project looked decidedly uncertain, but in November 1974, Stanley Pickard advised Wilbert that he was ‘maintaining personal contact with Andrew and still had a slight hope that there might be a way outʼ. Wilbert remained philosophical: ‘Once the Americans get hold of it the whole series would be vulgarized and ruined.ʼ Eventually, a contract was signed almost a year later and Wilbert was paid an advance of £500. He ordered a pilot episode from Granada TV. Animator Brian Cosgrove worked on the pilot, which would feature 2D cutouts of the engines moving along a background in a style reminiscent of the Ivor the Engine series. The cutouts and backgrounds would be based upon illustrations from The Railway Series, albeit in a unique Cosgrove style.Brian Cosgrove Award-winning Cartoonist Working on Animated Television Series 'Thomas the Tank Engine' (18 October 1976) The pilot episode was completed in early 1976 and Lloyd Webber had really tried very hard to bring the project to fruition, but decided to cancel the plan because the American market did not show interest and he was a huge stage hit with Evita. In 1977, Lloyd Webber formed the "[[Wikipedia:Really Useful Group|'Really Useful' Group]]", a name inspired by the phrase "Really Useful Engine". And he wrote the Starlight Express inspired by the Railway Series in 1984 and became one of his most famous works. These show that he retained affection for the Railway Series. Characters * Thomas * Edward * Henry * Gordon The following characters are mentioned in the specimen lyrics and may have appeared in later episodes. * James * Percy * Toby * Duck * The Fat Controller Locations * Vicarstown Sheds * Vicarstown A bridge similar to the Standard Gauge and Narrow Gauge Viaduct from the fourth series of the 1995 television series produced by Britt Allcroft would have also appeared. Preservation It is not known what became of the original pilot and where it is today, if any footage still exists. The only known image of the series shows Brian Cosgrove animating the pilot. Trivia * This is the second example of an attempt to adapt railway series books to television, following the 1953 BBC. * It is unknown exactly what story the pilot episode would have been based off of, but from the available image, it appears that the pilot would have been based off either Thomas and Gordon, Thomas' Train or Thomas and the Trucks. * In the early 1980s, when Britt Allcroft told Wilbert Awdry the plan for the television series, Awdry replied that a number of people had the same idea, but had failed in the attempt. Gallery File:BrianCosgrove.jpg|Brian Cosgrove animating the series File:ThomastheTankEngine(1976).jpg|Thomas with the big engines References Source * The Thomas the Tank Engine Man by Brian Sibley, pages 310-13 (2015 edition). * Unmasked by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Chapter 16 and Chapter 20 External Links * The TV Series on Sodor Island Fansite Category:Lost Media Category:Miscellaneous Category:Railway Series adaptations